Report unveils air pollution’s toll on infants
A newly released report revealed that 68,100 children under five years of age died in Pakistan in 2021 due to high exposure to air pollution.
The report titled, Latest State of Global Air 2024, published by Fair Finance Pakistan in partnership with UNICEF reports that air pollution is the second leading risk factor for death among children under five.
The report estimates Pakistan has the largest burden of disease linked to air pollution after India and China at 256,000 deaths per annum. Pakistan has experienced increases of more than 10 per cent in ambient ozone exposure in the last decade and had the highest average ozone exposure in 2020.
Early exposure to high levels of PM 2.5, ozone, and nitrogen oxides begins in the womb and increases children’s susceptibility to pre-term births, respiratory infections, stunting, cancers, and cognitive development. The report found that 30 per cent of all deaths in the first month after birth are linked to exposure to air pollution in South Asia including Pakistan.
Long-term exposures to air pollutants can last a lifetime, including impaired lung growth. UNICEF estimates children who live in polluted environments can have their lung capacity reduced by 20 per cent. It also results in a higher risk for chronic diseases later in life which may cause economic losses due to high disease burden and loss of productivity.
Fair Finance Pakistan Country Programme Lead Asim Jaffry responded to the report’s result by saying, “Children are far too young and far too burdened by air pollution. Engaging the national financial sector to scale up financing of pollution-free and circular solutions and a systematic shift in our production and consumption models is vital to overcome economic losses and disease burden from air pollution, he said. “This requires significant funding directed to innovative business models and activities. Clean air is a shared priority and requires multi-lateral solutions.”
Jafrry said Pakistan is already the second most air-polluted country in the world with average concentrations of PM 2.5, 14 times higher than WHO levels. “Poor air quality shortens life expectancy by up to 7 years in the country, adversely impacts human health, and increases the burden of disease.
State of Global Air 2024 reports nitrogen oxide (NO2) is a common pollutant in urban areas and a marker of traffic-related air pollution. NO2 is the air pollutant most consistently related to asthma incidence among children.